Ureteral stents are used to provide drainage of urine from the kidneys to the bladder. The stent is a flexible, tubular structure that is constructed of relatively inert material. The stent is perforated to have a plurality of small drainage holes along its length. Some stents are shaped to define "hooks" at either end. The hooks prevent migration of the tube from the kidney toward the bladder or from the bladder upwards.
Normally, indwelling stents must be periodically removed or replaced. Conventional stent removal procedures are complex and may be painful, sometimes requiring general anesthesia.
The presence of a stent within the lower ureter and within the bladder may cause considerable irritation to some patients. To alleviate this irritation, stents can be shortened. The stent is shortened at the distal (bladder) end. Thus, the distal end of the shortened stent resides in the ureter, remote from the bladder and the ureteral orifice. The ureteral orifice is the junction of the ureter and the bladder. A thin thread may be attached to the shortened stent to extend into the bladder and provide a means for later removing the stent. To remove the shortened stent, the thread must be endoscopically visualized, grasped, and withdrawn. Although this is a relatively simple procedure, it requires specialized instruments used by an urologist in a sterile setting. Here, too, general anesthesia is sometimes required.
Procedures for non-surgical removal of magnetically-attractible objects from a body cavity or tube have been used in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,809 to Kuntz discloses a specially configured stent that carries a magnetically attractive tip. The tip is fastened to the hooked, distal end of the stent, which end resides in the bladder.
To remove the Kuntz stent, a catheter having a magnetized end is introduced into the bladder to attract and connect to the special tip of the stent. Apparently, the tip of the Kuntz stent may be caught by the magnet-tipped catheter in a manner that permits complete removal of the stent upon withdrawal of the catheter. Otherwise, Kuntz notes that the catheter and stent combination may be withdrawn just enough for the hooked end of the stent to be reached with a forceps or other grasping device, then completely removed. Apparently, Kuntz does not contemplate shortened-stent placement and removal.